Everything Else
by Mango27
Summary: Shorts and such on Hiccup and Astrid's relationship over time. (I'm still figuring this system out, sorry) And yes, it shall be fluffy. :)
1. The Bundle Part 1

Hiccup was planning something.

He was on his way back to the shop, holding a bundle wrapped in brown cloth. It was raining, which was an advantage, as most people were huddled up inside with their fires going full-blast, and the town was almost empty. As he passed Snotlout's house, he noticed a lone Gronkle hiding in the shadows of the overhanging roof, pressed against the warmth of the walls with its eyes closed in bliss, sleeping despite the chatter coming from the window above its head.

Hiccup tightened the string around the bundle and tucked it further inside his vest, holding it firmly against his abdomen. He grinned quietly to himself when he thought of the expression on –

"Astrid!" he yelped, sliding in the mud and almost falling on his behind when the blonde appeared in front of him. She was wrapped up warmly in a large brown coat oiled with something that kept the raindrops from soaking in and instead sent them sliding down and dripping to the ground.

Astrid smiled in greeting, but her eyes almost instantly narrowed with suspicion at the object Hiccup was hastily trying to hide from her. "What are you holding?"  
"Holding? Nothing," Hiccup's eyes darted everywhere, avoiding Astrid's face. "Not a thing. Nothing at all."  
"Hiccup," Astrid warned. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "Show it to me."

It wasn't a request. It was a command.

"B-but it's not…" _Oh, gods. _Hiccup swallowed and almost smacked himself in the face. His lying was terrible. There had to be something he could do to distract her. He was about to comment feebly on the weather when she continued speaking.

"Why are you hiding things from me?" Astrid's eyes changed from demanding to hurt. "I thought you said you could tell me anything."  
"I said that?"  
"Yeah you said it. Last week. When you told me about the crush you used to have on Ruffnut when you were three, and the time you –"

"Okay, alright, gods, you're so demanding! I will show it to you."

Astrid smiled triumphantly and waited.

Hiccup paused, rain dripping from his hair and nose, and gathering on his eyelashes. He shouldn't be standing in the middle of it like that, but from his fifteen years living in Berk, he was just about used to it by now. He had caught every virus the village could hold, and besides, his immune system was starting to get better. All that flying around to other areas was doing him good.

"I will tell you," he continued, "tomorrow."

Astrid glared at him.

"Tomorrow, I promise!" Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. Because… it's a surprise. And it's not ready."  
For a moment, her eyes lit up. "Is it… for me?"

"Uh…" _darn, she was going to ruin this. _"No. No, but it… involves you. Partially. So…"

Again, Astrid's face fell, and Hiccup kicked himself. _Gods, now she was upset. _He hated it when she was upset. He did anything he could to keep her otherwise. Ever since the whole dragon thing last year, things between them had been a lot better than during childhood. She had a bit of a habit of kissing him on impulse, but there wasn't anything _serious _going on between them. They were friends. Good friends. And yes, he did like her. He had liked her since he was twelve.

"Uh, Astrid…" he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, which unfortunately sent a cascade of cold raindrops down his spine, making him squirm uncomfortably.

"Yeah?" Astrid's tone was dull now, but she met his eyes nonetheless. He loved that about her. She was always looking people in the eye.

"Uh, will you… Do you want to meet me tomorrow? For a fly?"

That got her attention. There was nothing she loved better than flying, especially if it involved Hiccup. "Sure."

"Cool. I'll see you then. B-bye Astrid."  
Astrid smiled and disappeared into the rain, leaving Hiccup to let out a breath he had been holding for what seemed like a lifetime. He glanced down at the bundle and continued walking.

_That was close._


	2. The Bundle Part 2

Hiccup got back to his house and carefully unwrapped the bundle, letting out a breath when he saw that it was still intact. He had been working on it for two months now, and it was almost finished, but it would have been awful if Astrid had seen it before she was meant to.

He placed the object on the table. It was a pretty, intricate dragon's egg made of gleaming metals, soft silver metals that were easy to mould, with small gems decorating the surface. When Hiccup pressed a small button at the top, it split open like a lotus flower, revealing a small candle, which, when lit, broke through the gaps of the egg with its light, casting dragon-shaped shadows on the walls.

He almost blushed at how… delicate it was. Not at all something a typical Viking would be proud of making. Still, he hoped she would like it.

There was a snuffling from outside the window, and he reached behind him to flip the catch, allowing Toothless to push it open with his nose.

"Hey, Bud," Hiccup smiled.

Toothless grunted and tilted his head at the object on the table. He tried to lean in closer to sniff at it, but Hiccup blocked him. "Nope, sorry Bud. You'll break it if you touch it."

The dragon gave an impatient huff and resorted to staring intently at the object rather than touching it.

"Now that you've given it a good long look, would you mind?" Hiccup gently pushed Toothless's face back outside. "I've gotta get changed."  
The dragon gave a huff and obeyed.

The next morning, Hiccup was awake nice and early due to the cold puddle forming in his bed from the leaky roof above him. After many bad words and a long, uncomfortable hour fixing the roof, he was finally ready to go.

He tucked Astrid's present under his shirt once more and, once Toothless was finished with his disgusting-looking breakfast of raw fish, jumped on his back and flew him to his and Astrid's usual meeting spot, the cliff above the harbour.

Astrid was already waiting – sharpening her axe in boredom, which Hiccup always found both terrifying and awesome at the same time. Leaning more towards terrifying, but it was still cool. She looked up and smiled when he landed, and he raised an eyebrow.

"You did your hair different," he noted. Her usual thick braid was now two not-so-thick braids, which looked equally as beautiful to him as the original one did. Then again, even if Astrid grew feet out of her ears, he would still find her beautiful.

"Oh, yeah," Astrid's cheeks coloured as she glanced down at the braids, "I figured… I mean, is it alright?"  
"Alright? It's great!" Hiccup grinned. "I mean – well, yeah, uhhh… Anyway, this is for you."

Astrid tilted her head and stepped forward to receive the wrapped bundle Hiccup was holding out to her. "Wait, is this the thing you said wasn't for me?"  
"About that," Hiccup laughed uncomfortably, "it was always for you, but I didn't want you to see it when it wasn't finished. Uh, happy birthday."  
Astrid's face broke into a grin which made him catch his breath. She rarely smiled that grin, but when she did… Man.

"You remembered," she said, still smiling at the unopened gift.

"Well… Open it," he prompted. Now he was the one getting impatient over that thing.

She sensed this, and took her time unwrapping it, just to annoy him all the more. But when it was unwrapped, she stared at it in awed silence.

Hiccup began to ramble. "It's… I think it's a candle holder. There are dra – those are, on the sides, those are dragons. 'Cause, I mean, you like them. I mean, I think you like them. You seem to, s – anyway, that's beside the – it's really delicate so try not to – oh and that button thing, it –"

Astrid grabbed him by the shirt, pulled him towards her and cut him off with a kiss. When she finally pulled away, Hiccup noticed tears in her eyes.

"It's beautiful," she whispered. "I love it. Thank you."


End file.
